HILLS ON FIRE

** SONG LIST **

DEAR GOD

(Kelsey, Mark, Ensemble)

At the funeral of Edipus Stray - Ed’s daughter Kelsey and the inhabitants of Perdue, Pennsylvania explain the unique traditions and customs of their Appalachian town. 

A CURSE

(Kelsey, Grandma Ma, Ensemble)

We rewind and span over fifty years as Kelsey explains the history of her family and Perdue, told through legends of curses and calamities that Kelsey’s grandmother Wilma “Grandma Ma” Stray has told Kelsey and her brother Mark since childhood. 

We learn that Perdue was once a thriving coal town, but is now dying. And after a freak accident, the coal mine under the town caught fire and became unstoppable, spreading underground via seams and consuming roads, buildings, and homes in its path. By the time Kelsey is born, the town of Perdue has been burning for nearly fifty years (this is based on a real incident, by the way!). 

We also learn Kelsey’s mother disappeared when she was six, and that our story truly “starts” when Kelsey’s father is diagnosed with lung cancer when she is 16 years old. 

RAIN 

(Kelsey)

Ed says he doesn’t want treatment and is ready to die. Kelsey runs to the porch, haunted by memories of  losing her mother. She thinks of her last memory as a family, where they held each other during a thunderstorm, and despite dire straits , they protected and cared for one another. Kelsey wonders if she can ever break these cycles of addiction, abuse, and poverty her family is trapped in. 

NEVER 

(Kelsey, Mark, Ed, Grandma Ma)

Ed agrees to receive treatment, and the family quickly goes broke. But Mark’s old high school friends offers Ed tons of cash for his pain meds, the family debates whether to sell Ed’s pills to survive. 

ONE HOUR

(Mark)

Mark visits old friends he used to use drugs with to sell Ed’s pills. The sale goes well, but the police are waiting outside, meaning Mark has to hide in the house for an hour before he can leave. 

In addition to recently receiving his family's “gift” of seeing ghosts (fun, right?!) Mark is a recovering addict. Can he keep from falling into his old instincts for an hour? We’ll see how that goes. 

THE FEAST

(Kelsey, Mark, Ed, Grandma Ma, Ensemble)

After they makes their first sale, the Stray’s have enough money to have a proper dinner. They go shopping and the entire town joins for a pot luck. The song intercuts with the family’s scheme growing, while the community takes part in a Circle - a folk tradition of sharing songs that are real, written, on the radio, or made up on the spot. 

The resulting moments are what everyone in town remembers as the last great “church service” they had before tragedy struck and the town’s demise becomes imminent. 

AMOCO

(Ensemble)

The Perdue Mine Fire has spread to the local Amoco gas station. Everyone rushes to drain gas tank before it explodes. They succeed, but with the station now empty - what is a town without gas? The city is sealed off with a dirt-mound berm, and no cars can enter or leave.

As the first winter snow begins to fall, the fire keeps the asphalt warm, so the last 19 townspeople sit on the asphalt and reminisce about how much has changed. 

Oh, and fun story - Kelsey’s mother is NOT DEAD. Whitney Stray ran away ten years ago to try to start a new life, but came back after Ed died at the end of Act I, determined to bring her son and daughter with her to escape Perdue. Kelsey is far from interested though, and refuses to speak to Whitney until they’re stuck together at the gas station. 

The two finally bond over the possibility of hope that comes from remembering the past. 

TO THE RIVER

(Mark)

Disaster strikes when Mark accidentally reveals his family’s secret stash, and his former friends arrive to rob them at gunpoint.  . Mark’s worst fears become a reality when Grandma Ma is killed in the crossfire. He feels responsible for his mother’s death, his father’s death, and his grandmother’s death. Mark runs into the woods, chased by ghosts, planning to jump into the town’s legendary River, where those in unspeakable pain go and never return.

FINALE

(Ensemble)

After running from his past, his pain, and the ghosts of Perdue, Mark finally chooses to listen. The ghosts of Ed, Whitney, and Grandma Ma comfort  Mark and help him choose to walk away from the River. 

Kelsey finds Mark and they decide to leave Perdue together, the ghosts of Perdue watching them go as the fire finally consumes the town. As they walk away,  it begins to rain.